Your Call 122407-010108 Year in Review

MONDAY

The Year in the Arctic

What happened this year in the arctic? On the next Your Call we begin our end of year reviews with a discussion of the last twelve months at the top of the globe. 2007 was the International Polar Year, an attempt to bring attention to the fate of the 9 and a half million square miles that is most vulnerable to global climate change. Whether it was Russian submarines planting a titanium flag under the North Pole or scientists discovering that 1/3 of the ice that was there in 1970 is now gone, there was big news from the far north. The Year in the Arctic on the next Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.


Guests
John Farrell, Executive Director of the US Arctic Research Commission

Dr. Neil T. M. Hamilton, Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s International Arctic Program


TUESDAY

NO SHOW; pre-empted for a Christmas Day special entitled, "Green Rush" American Radioworks

WEDNESDAY

The Year in Poetry

At a time when Americans of all ages are spending more time sitting idly in front of the computer and spending less time reading, how significant is poetry? On the next Your Call, we’ll speak with California's poet laureate Al Young, former San Francisco poet laureate Devorah Major, and Iraqi poet Sinan Antoon. What role does poetry play in the dark times? What stands out this year and what are these poets looking forward to next year? Join us on a special edition of Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

THURSDAY

Whatever Happened To The Iraq War Whistleblowers?

Paul Wolfowitz was just brought back to the pentagon; what ever happened to the people who were right about the war in Iraq? On the next Your Call we bring in three whistleblowers who brought the folly of the coming war in Iraq to the attention of the American people. Whatever happened to John Brady Kiesling. Who resigned from in protest from the State Department, or Karen Kwiatkowski, the Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who blew the whistle on White House intelligence manipulations. Paul Wolfowitz has landed on his feet, have they? It’s Your Call with me Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests
John Brady Kiesling, resigned in protest from the State Department

Ann Wright, resigned in protest from the State Department

Lt Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (ret.), Pentagon whistleblower

FRIDAY

Lewis Lapham

How can we integrate stories from the past into reporting and popular culture? On the next Your Call we welcome Lewis Lapham, former editor of Harper's magazine and now the founder and editor of the Lapham Quarterly. In his essays and reporting, Lapham has long included examples from the past to illuminate the day's events. So who's history should we be looking to for lessons? What historical example do you think we should be paying attention to now? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you?

Guests
Lewis Lapham, founder and editor of Lapham’s Quarterly


MONDAY

What Makes A Good Protest Song?

What makes a good protest song? On the next Your Call we’re joined by Jeff Chang, Hip Hop Historian and Dave Marsh, longtime rock critic and the founder of Creem Magazine in Detroit. Chang has just returned from a trip to Indonesia where he collected raps in Bahasa. Marsh is now editor of Rock and Roll Confidential. Four years into the war in Iraq, where is the music giving voice and song to the outrage? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests
Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Dave Marsh, editor of Rock and Rap Confidential and the new book, “The Beatles' Second Album”


TUESDAY
Looking Forward to Year of Possibility

What are you looking forward to in 2008? On the next Your Call we want to hear from you. What has you excited for 2008? Are you or one of your kids getting married? Is a project you’ve been working on coming to fruition? Is your neighborhood turning around or are you starting a new job? With a new year at your fingertips, what is possible for all of us to create? It’s Your Call with me Rose Aguilar and you.

Your Call 122107 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week we wrap up 2007 with a look back at the major news stories of the year and how they were covered. Independent Iraq journalist Dahr Jamail will discuss the disappearance of the war from front pages and news broadcasts and John Nichols of the Nation will discuss the year that was in presidential political coverage. What was the best reporting you saw all year and what resolutions should the nation’s reporters and editors make? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Jonathan Landay in Washington DC
McClatchy’s national security correspondent
 
Dahr Jamail in San Francisco
Independent foreign correspondent and author of Beyond the Green Zone
 
John Nichols
Washington Bureau chief for The Nation Magazine.

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 122007 Maya Harris- executive director of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union

What happened to Californians' civil liberties in 2007? On the next Your Call we welcome the executive director of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union, Maya Harris. The NorCal ACLU has sued a San Jose company for arranging rendition flights, defended a young girl's right to wear Tigger socks to school and fought immigration raids by ICE officers. Which of our liberties should they focus on next year? It’s your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest:
Maya Harris in San Francisco
Executive Director of the Northern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Click to Listen: Maya Harris- executive director of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union

Your Call 121907 On the Record: Senator Fred Thompson

What does former Senator Fred Thompson's voting record tell us about what kind of president he would be? On the next Your Call, we complete our On The Record series, where we move past the stump speech and campaign promises and instead focus on candidates’ voting records and campaign contributions. This week we examine the record of former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. He has a 100 percent rating from anti-choice groups and the NRA. What do you want to know about Fred Thompson? It’s Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Clint Brewer in Nashville.
Executive editor of the Nashville City Paper and president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Stephen Dinan in Washington DC
National political reporter with the Washington Times.

Click to Listen: On the Record: Senator Fred Thompson

Your Call 121807 How are high school seniors preparing for college?

How are high school seniors preparing for college? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation with high school students about the quality of their education and how it has or hasn’t prepared them for college. We’re constantly hearing about the poor state of California’s education system and low test scores. Rather than talk about reports and studies, we’re going straight to the students to find out what they think about policies like No Child Left Behind and exit exams. What are some of the other issues they’re facing and what can we do to support them? It’s Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guest:
Kamal Ghammache-Mansour, senior at Albany High School

Click to Listen: How are high school seniors preparing for college?

Your Call 121707 Go Dance Somewhere Else - The Health Of Nightlife In San Francisco

What do expect from Bay Area nightlife? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about the Bay Area’s always changing nightlife culture. The construction boom and gentrification have transformed nightlife in San Francisco but there also plans to revitalize the old neighborhoods like the Fillmore and bring the old San Francisco back to life with new clubs like Yoshi’s. So what do you expect from the city’s nightlife? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Harrison Chastang is news director at KPOO 89.5 F.M.

Marke Bieschke is the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Cultural editor.

Click to Listen: Go Dance Somewhere Else--The Health Of Nightlife In San Francisco

Your Call 121407 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it’s our Friday Media Roundtable where we look at how the news of the week was covered. Did you get all the information you needed about your world? This week we’ll speak with Mother Jones’ new Washington Bureau Chief, David Corn about the torture tapes, debates and the final days of the Iowa campaign. We’ll also speak with Matthew Bajko of the Bay Area Reporter about covering the Bay Area’s growing and diversifying queer community. We’ll also get an update on the Vallejo mayor’s race. What was your story of the week?

Guests:
Matthew Bajko in San Francisco
Staff writer and editor at the Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco's oldest and largest local newspaper serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities;

Alexander Cockburn
Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, edits the political newsletter CounterPunch. He also writes the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation and a weekly syndicated column for the Los Angeles Times;

David Corn, in Washington DC
Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief, formerly of the Nation.

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 121307 How Can You Talk About Religion At Work?

How you talk about religion in the workplace without offending or pandering? On the next Your Call we break the taboo and talk religion and the workplace. For some Christians, tolerance policies can forbid all discussions about charity or spirituality and replace them with a least common denominator consumerism. For non-christians, how many references can they hear about a happy Kwanzaa or Hanukkah before it begins to feel like pandering not tolerance? Is it possible to have a workplace that allows entire people to show up around the holidays? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: the Rise of Christian Nationalism. Ms Goldberg joins us from San Francisco.
 
Doug Hicks, associate professor of leadership and religion at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. Doug is author of the 2003 book Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership and a new book that will come out next year called With God on All Sides: Leadership in a Diverse and Devout America. He joins us from Richmond.

Douglas Rushkoff, NYU professor of communications and author of Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism  and most recently Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business.

Click to Listen: How Can You Talk About Religion At Work?

Your Call 121207 Lewis Lapham: Learning from the Past

How can we integrate history into reporting and popular culture? On the next Your Call, we welcome Lewis Lapham, former editor of Harper's Magazine. He’s now the founder and editor of Lapham’s Quarterly. The magazine’s motto is: finding the present in the past, the past in the present. In his essays and reporting, Lapham has long included examples from the past to illuminate the day's events. What historical examples do you think we should be paying attention to today? It's Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Lewis Lapham, Former editor of Harper's and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly

Click to Listen: Lewis Lapham: Learning from the Past

Your Call 121107 On the Record: John Edwards

What do we need to know about the Democratic Presidential hopeful John Edwards? On the next Your Call, we continue our On the Record series about presidential candidates’ voting records and campaign contributions. Up next: John Edwards, former Democratic Senator from North Carolina. He has taken a populist position on the campaign trail, often talking about “two Americas” and corporate corruption. He also often slams NAFTA and outsourcing. Does his voting record match his rhetoric and promises? It’s Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
James Ridgeway, Mother Jones' senior correspondent in Washington D.C.

Bob Geary, staff writer with Independent Weekly in Durham, N.C.

Click to Listen: On the Record: John Edwards

Your Call 121007 Buy Less, Give More

What would it take to convince people to shop less in a country that bases its economic success on consumer spending? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a discussion about the culture of consumption in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Americans are expected to spend $475 billion this year – four percent more than last year. What explains America’s appetite for shopping? What would it take to shop less and give more? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Judith Levine, journalist and author of Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

Andrew Szasz, chair of Dept. of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz and author of Shopping Our Way to Safety: How We Changed from Protecting the Environment to Protecting Ourselves

John Perry, co-founder of Compact, a group whose members try not to buy anything new except food, medicine and underwear.

Click to Listen: Buy Less, Give More

Your Call 120707 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week President Bush’s dire warnings about an Iranian nuclear holocaust were knee-capped by his own intelligence agencies. While American media outlets quoted the president’s rationalizations, who did middle east reporters go to. We’ll speak with NPR reporter Deb Amos in Syria. We’ll also talk with the Boston Globe’s Anna Badkhen about the Russian elections and religion in political reporting with an editor of Beliefnet. What was your story of the week? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Deb Amos, covers Iraq for NPR News

Anna Badkhen, Staff writer for the Boston Globe. Before joining the Globe she was a freelance foreign correspondent with a particular focus on Russia.

Joel Schalit, Independent writer and former editor of both Punk Planet and Tikkun. Joel is finishing up a book about Israel and Palestine called Israel vs. Utopia.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 120607 Blacks, race and class: Are attitudes of blacks towards blacks changing?

Is class difference dividing African Americans? On the next Your Call we discuss a controversial new poll from Pew and NPR that suggests class trumps race in determining social values. Critics say the poll really measures a decades long effort by conservatives to say racism is dead in America. As more African Americans enter the middle class, is the meaning of blackness changing for the worse or is diversity a sign of the health of black identity in America? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research for the Pew Research Center

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author and commentator on contemporary American political culture. He is the author of the recently released Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African Americans and Hispanics 

Sherrilyn Ifill, Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and a commentator on the group blog, BlackProf.com. 

Click to Listen: Blacks, race and class: Are attitudes of blacks towards blacks changing?

Your Call 120507 On the Record: Senator John McCain

What does Arizona Senator John McCain’s voting record tell us about what kind of a president he would be? On the next Your Call, we continue our On the Record series where we look past their stump speeches and hold their votes up to the light. Up Next: Republican Senator, John McCain. He has a reputation as a straight talking maverick. We’ll look at how independent the senator has been in his 25 years on Capitol Hill, on immigration or campaign finance reform, on the war in Iraq and a possible war with Iran. When does McCain vote with his party, and when does he go his own way? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Matt Stearns, McClatchy newspapers' Washington Bureau reporter

Dan Nowicki, the Arizona Republic's "McCain Central" blog writer and reporter

Click to Listen: On the Record: Senator John McCain

Your Call 120407 What happened to universal health care in California?

Whatever happened to universal health care in California? On the next Your Call we discuss the reform legislation long stalled in Sacramento. At the beginning of the year Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Governor Schwarzenegger were touting competing plans that would have insured every Californian. Insurance companies, consumer groups, even business groups were supporting a solution to the state's rising health care crisis. Why did reform stall and who is fighting to get it moving again? It's Your Call with guest host Ben Temchine and you.

Guests:
Anthony Wright, Executive Director for Health Access California

Donna Gerber, the Director of Government Relations for the California Nurses Association

Anmol S. Mahal, MD, the past president of California Medical Association

Click to Listen: Whatever happened to universal health care in California?